pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Robert Underwood Johnson
Robert Underwood Johnson (January 12, 1853 - October 14, 1937) was an American poet, prose writer, and diplomat. Life A native of Washington, D.C., Johnson joined the staff of The Century Magazine in 1873. He became the magazine's associate editor in 1881, and in 1909, on the death of Richard Watson Gilder, succeeded to the editorial chair, which he occupied until May 1913. Johnson was also a longtime writer and editor for Scribner's Monthly. Using the influence of The Century, Johnson (togethre with famed naturalist John Muir) was a driving force behind the creation of Yosemite National Park in the California in 1890. In 1889, Johnson encouraged Muir to "start an association" to help protect the Sierra Nevada, inspiring the formation of the Sierra Club in 1892. Johnson married Katherine McMahon. They had a son, Owen McMahon Johnson (1878-1952), who became a writer in his own right. In the 1890s, Robert and Katharine became close friends with inventor Nikola Tesla. Johnson became noted early for his work on international copyright. He had a hand in many important publishing undertakings, and it was on his persuasion that Ulysses S. Grant wrote his Memoirs. Johnson became permanent secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was a driving force for the effort to acquire and preserve as a museum the rooms in Rome where poet John Keats and his friend Joseph Severn spent Keats's final months in 1821. You can visit the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome today, where its windows look out over the Spanish Steps. In 1916 Johnson acted as pallbearer for the funeral of Alexander Wilson Drake. In 1917 he organized and was chairman of the American Poets' Ambulance in Italy; this organization presented 112 ambulances to the Italian army in 4 months. In 1918-1919 he was president of the New York Committee of the Italian War Relief Fund of America. Johnson served as the U.S. Ambassador to Italy from April 1920 to July 1921, and represented the United States as observer at the San Remo conference of the Supreme Council of the League of Nations. Recognition As secretary of the American Copyright League, he helped get the Law of 1891 passed, for which he was decorated by the French and Italian governments. He was also decorated by the Italian government in recognition of his work in behalf of good relations between Italy and the United States. Publications Poetry *''The Winter Hour, and other poems''. New York: Century, 1892. *''Songs of Liberty, and other poems''. New York: Century, 1897. *''Poems''. New York: Century, 1902. *''Saint Caudens: An ode, and other verse''. New York: Century, 1910. *''Poems of War and Peace''. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1916. *''Italian Rhapsody, and other poems of Italy''. New York: privately published, 1917. *''Collected Poems, 1881–1919''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1920 **revised as Collected Poems, 1881–1922. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1923. *''Poems of Fifty Years, 1880-1930''. New York: privately published, 1931. *''Aftermath: Being for the most part poems written by the author in his 80th and 81st years''. New York: privately published, 1933. Non-fiction *''Remembered Yesterdays''. Boston: Little, Brown, 1923; London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1924. *''Your Hall of Fame: Being an account of the origin, establishment and history of this division of New York University, from 1900-1935, inclusive.'' New York: New York University, 1935. Edited *''Battles and Leaders of the Civil War'' (edited with Clarence Clough Buel). (4 volumes), New York: Century, 1888. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Robert Underwood Johnson, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 26, 2018. See also *List of U.S. poets References Notes External links ;Poems *Robert Underwood Johnson at PoemHunter (8 poems) ;About *Says “Vers Libre” Is Prose, Not Poetry; Robert Underwood Johnson Deplores Excesses of Ultra-Modern Writers in Rebellion Against What They Call Tyranny of Form, New York Times, March 19, 1916. *Robert Underwood Johnson at Find a Grave ;Etc. *Guide to the Robert Underwood Johnson papers at The Bancroft Library *Guide to the Robert Underwood Johnson papers at New York Public Library Category:American historians Category:American journalists Category:American poets Category:Sierra Club Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C. Category:1853 births Category:1937 deaths